Gleason: Knicks must clean up their act to advance in playoffs

They must find a way to keep the dogs off them while they find some cash, or in this case find their "A'' game.

The Knicks start their new season in Game 91, the third game of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Saturday night in Indiana. They must accomplish something very few teams can pull off in May. They must become a refined basketball team, not a one-series or one-game wonder.

Too many signs point to the Knicks leaving these playoffs by the conference finals. They are heading down the road to elimination unless things change quickly. If Indiana doesn't provide the final push, Miami or Chicago will gladly do the honors.

That is why the Knicks are on borrowed time. They must get better — now.

All conversations on the Knicks' potential begin with Carmelo Anthony. He had as good a season as he's ever had this year. He has been the clear driving force to making the Knicks relevant again.

Yet, he has hit only 39 percent of his shots in the playoffs, 28 percent on three-pointers. Anthony has delivered sound advice to J.R. Smith amid his slump. Keep shooting. Stay confident.

Anthony needs to practice a different approach for himself. He needs to be more patient with his shots and more trusting of his teammates.

Anthony has made at least half his shots once in eight playoff games and twice across his past 11 games. He made exactly 50 percent of his shots on both occasions — Game 2 Tuesday and April 12 at Cleveland — while missing like a middle-school gunner on most other occasions. Indiana is too aggressive and resilient defensively to let Anthony carry the Knicks. He needs a lot of help, but he must allow teammates the privilege, beginning on the night when Amare Stoudemire returns.

Smith's recent shooting woes make Anthony's numbers look positively gaudy by comparison. The ball has to go through the Knicks' best player, and it's Anthony's job, especially now, to help make Smith better by shooting more consistently and setting up his struggling teammate.

Anthony has yearned for the universal respect that comes with most great players. He has made strides toward squashing the label as a fabulous talent unable to achieve postseason success. Still, Anthony has a lot of work to do, starting in Game 91 of his 10th season.

The Knicks had no excuse for letting the Celtics hang around as long as they did. Boston made a series of it despite sending out a creaky, flawed product minus its best player, Rajon Rondo. The Celtics snuffed out most of a 26-point fourth-quarter deficit with a 20-0 run in Game 6. They kept the Knicks without a point for 4:43, an embarrassing display of basketball from a team expected to battle for a trip to the NBA Finals. The Heat, of course, flicked aside Milwaukee like a piece of dandruff showing up on a sleeve.

That the Knicks would follow up their lackluster Game 6 finish with a series-opening dud against Indiana provided further evidence of their warts. Knicks players, especially Anthony, volunteered incriminating quotes on the team getting outworked by Indiana. Say what you want about Miami losing its opener to Chicago. The Heat will never arrive at a playoff game as mentally unprepared as the Knicks were in Game 1.

The Knicks resembled a conference contender in Game 2. Now, the venue switches to Indiana. The Knicks better clean up their act. The bookie is about to come calling.